St Patrick's Ath v Bohemians, (Richmond Park, 7.45)
The contrast in early season fortunes for respective new managers Liam Buckley and Joe McGrath could scarcely be greater as they contemplate the first big Dublin derby of the season tonight.
A near capacity crowd is expected for the meeting of champions and league leaders St Patrick's and a Bohemians side sitting ignominiously joint bottom of the table.
It's gone very well so far for St Patrick's, considering a number of key injuries and the settling in of Buckley.
Bohemians haven't had such comfort. McGrath has experienced a veritable baptism of fire on his return to the domestic game as Bohemians flounder without a win in four games. A quarterfinal exit from the League Cup to archrivals Shamrock Rovers has given Gypsy fans something else to cringe at.
St Patrick's are best placed to earn revenge for a 2-0 defeat to Bohemians at Richmond Park towards the end of last season which threw a spanner in their title chase and gave Shelbourne an advantage going into the last four games.
Buckley is still without Jeff Clarke and Colin Hawkins, but is hopeful that Packie Lynch may be involved.
"It's gone well considering it usually takes a little bit of time for a new manager to get his point of view and new ideas across to the players in the changing room," said Buckley. "I do have the benefit of having a lot of quality players in my squad which makes things a little easier, for sure."
Paul Campbell, who injured ankle ligaments in Monday's epic League Cup win over Longford Town, is expected to be out for up to two weeks.
Bohemians have a long casualty list. Maurice O'Driscoll and Robbie Best are joined by Robbie Brunton (hamstring), while Tommy Byrne is suspended.
On a positive note, Tony O'Connor resumes the captaincy to face his former club after a three-match lay-off with a knee injury.
McGrath has also added 17-year-old Graham Conway to his squad.
"We haven't had a settled back four yet and I'm still not happy with the shape of our defence," said McGrath.
"Ideally I'd love to be going into tonight's match on the back of three straight wins. I'm not saying we're going to break our duck tonight, but we're still confident of doing well. Once we get our first win we'll take things from there."
Such has been the demand for tickets, St Patrick's opened their ticket office at Richmond Park at 8.30 a.m. yesterday morning and supporters are advised to purchase tickets in advance to avoid queues before the game tonight.
Last season: St Patrick's Athletic 0 Bohemians 0, Bohemians 0 St Patrick's Athletic 0, St Patrick's Athletic 0 Bohemians 2.
Recent form: St Patrick's Athletic: WWWWD; Bohemians: WLDLL.
Leading league scorers: St Patrick's Athletic: Gilzean (three). Bohemians: Swan (three). Betting: Home: 8-11, Draw: 5-2, Away: 3-1.
Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).
Betting courtesy of Paddy Power.
Paul Hegarty will miss Derry City's game with Shelbourne on October 4th after he received a one-match suspension for his recent sending off against Cork City.
Matt Proctor (Shamrock Rovers) and Drogheda United's Darren O'Keeffe have also received one-game bans for recent sendings-off, while Trevor Croly (St Patrick's Athletic), Mick Doohan (Dundalk) and Galway United's Michael Quirke will miss one game each after reaching 20 penalty points having carried over 16 from last season.
